Focus: Financial - Ideas to Make Money in Retirement
Tools, tips and tricks for finding a gig job in retirement
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
What’s Your Gig?
Last time we “focused on Financial” we talked about income covering outgo. But what if it doesn’t? How do you close that gap? One option is to increase your income through a gig, or side job. It can be anything from a part time job at the ice cream store to a paid position on a board of directors, and just about anything you can think of in between. Some people use the opportunity to learn something brand new, and some people leverage their impressive careers to help the next generation along. Some people do it for love and some people do it for the money. Because the opportunities are so vast and so varied, it can be hard to figure out how to get started. The good news is that you are the exact right generation to sort this out, because there are now so many platforms to “match” people with opportunities you won’t have to sort through everything on your own. I actually believe our generation will shape a lot of this stuff for future generations to leverage, since we’re really the first ones that are defining retirement as “The Third Act” rather than just taking a pension and fading into obscurity like our parents may have. But I digress… Let’s talk about how to get started finding your gig.
Most people say that your first step should be writing down all of your skills and interests. I think that’s a good exercise, but my personal advice is to first take a look at some of the opportunities. The reason I say this is because it can help you focus on what people are looking for and help you broaden your view of “skills.” If you decide you are great at drawing clowns, for instance, but there hasn’t been a new circus in your area in 30 years, that could be discouraging, until you learn that someone out there is looking for graphic designers to decorate clown cars for advertising for their new business franchising bounce houses. BOOM! Suddenly, you’re a graphic designer specializing in clowns. There are tons of platforms to peruse if you have hours to while away. Before I get to those, though, let’s look at a couple of real life examples to get you started.
Jeri’s Story (that’s me!)
I left the workforce early, knowing that I wanted some kind of gig to keep me off the streets. I also knew I would feel better if I had some kind of income to supplement my retirement income. So, a few years before I retired, I went in search of my next “thing.” And I found woefully little information about how to plan for what was next, after retirement. Oh, there was plenty out there about investments and financial planning, but what about all of the rest of life that I was going to have to figure out? You know, things like what I was going to do with my time, how I was going to have a rich, healthy, full 30 years of retirement and stuff like that? As I was searching for that type of information it dawned on me that I was amassing a treasure trove of information that wasn’t easily accessible in one place for retirees. BAM! My newsletter was born - along with, hopefully, some workshops, coaching, tools and maybe even a book or speaking gigs. We’ll see.
As I was researching and learning about newsletters, a strange thing happened. I found a request to pitch to a local news service for a newsletter curator position. Hmmm… I needed to learn about newsletters (and pitching to media, for that matter). A professional journalistic organization should be able to teach me something, I reasoned. So I pitched. And I got it! Now, I earn some income curating a “hyper-local” newsletter and I’m learning about editing and promotion at the same time. Weird how things work out.
Paula’s Story
“I've been retired for 3 years. I spent the first year traveling and getting my house cleaned and organized to perfection.
“I realized by year two that I wanted to help other working women who are, no doubt, overwhelmed.
“I opened a care.com account and posted my resume. I said that I wanted to help a busy working woman. I don't like to babysit, pet sit, or house clean, so that limited me a little.
“Within 1 week, I had 3 viable opportunities. I accepted one initially, but I now have 3 clients. I cook, organize, help them declutter and downsize, buy and wrap gifts, make appointments, etc. I only do what I like to do and only work about 15 hours a week. I love it!
“I am very transparent about what I will do, and what I will not do. I have made myself indispensable, and get a great deal of satisfaction knowing that I am improving their lives.”
Wow. So Paula has found a way to have meaning/purpose, connections and gig income all in one package! Impressive!
A Couple of Others
I have a friend that was a fairly senior person in her company in the area of Information Security. She had a wide and varied network of InfoSec professionals. She loved her job, but REALLY loved to travel and spend time with her adult children. So she retired and leveraged her network into a position on a board of directors. Information Security is a huge thing right now, and that board uses her knowledge extensively, but it’s on her time and wherever in the world she happens to be. Nice.
Someone else I know has a son that plays the bass - really, really well. He’s one of the top young bass players in the country and got a scholarship to UCLA for it. She volunteered on a board for young musicians while he was in middle school and high school. When her son went away to college, she let them know she was going to step down and someone on that board approached her with the opportunity of a paid position on the board of a professional orchestra, which she gladly went for. Maybe you don’t have a prodigy as a son, but you could certainly leverage a volunteer position into something more after you retire.
Another friend of mine retired, but always knew she wanted to do gig work in her chosen field of HR. During her first year of retirement, she “helped” one of her ex-colleagues with a workshop for a company that does corporate HR training. She filled in for a few of their trainers and started making some materials of her own. She tried “branching out” and doing freelance training, but found she really liked the company that her friend worked for. She now does trainings for that company, again, mostly on her time with a ton of flexibility.
Three models to find your gig
So, there are three ways to find yourself a gig. You could do what I did, and go look for demand for what you are supplying - being open to whatever that may look like. You could do what my friends did and leverage your network to find part time, flexible work that matches your demonstrated skillset, or you could do what Paula did and find a passion and a platform to match that passion with paying customers.
A plethora of platforms
If you want to peruse platforms to see what customers are paying for, here are a few to get you started:
care.com - Care.com offers of an array of services that enable families to find, manage and pay for care and provide employment opportunities for caregivers.
Upwork - Upwork is a platform where you can offer your freelance services and find freelance opportunities in just about any field. Their mission is “to create economic opportunities so people have better lives.” Pretty broad…
Fiverr - Fiverr started as a platform where you could get tiny “bites” of technical help for five dollars a pop. They have expanded to gigs of all sizes and, while they are mostly still known as a place for help with techie stuff, there are all types of services on the platform now.
Prolific, Survey Junkie- You’re not going to get rich here, but if you find yourself with an extra brain cell or two while you’re binging Netflix, answering surveys for money might be your gig! There are TONS of surveys out there. Just find one (or 10) you’re qualified for and dig in.
Etsy, ebay, Craigslist - If you just want to sell all of the crap you’ve accumulated, or if you want to accumulate or make more things to sell, these are your “go to.”
Wag - If you like dogs, this is your site. You can find gigs walking, sitting, training, visiting, etc. dogs in your area. Some people make a pretty darn good part time living walking dogs!
Just Answer - You can answer questions in any area of expertise, but if you really want to make a go of it, you probably need a technical background or an area of specialty that people use a lot like taxes, law, medical professional and the like.
Search Engine Evaluators - If you’re good with details and with making connections between what people say and what they really want, search engine evaluator might be something to check out. This article gives you 8 different platforms because these jobs can be few and far between, but if you’re on 8 platforms you can find stuff to keep you going.
Your Turn!
I hope all of this has given you some fodder for thought. At the end of the day, it might be good to brainstorm what you are good at and what you like to do to narrow down all of the great opportunities out there. But first, let your mind wander through the pastures of possibility! Who knows what you might step in?
If you have an idea for finding gig work, please let us know! We’d love to hear your story in the comments!
And don’t forget to forward this to a friend!